Harry and a Sick Anniversary
by teddylonglong
Summary: Harry is sick and has to take care of his 4 kids. Fits the epilogue of my story "Harry and the Mystery of Age" but not required reading. Completely AU - only read if you're as sick as I was when I wrote it, otherwise you'll think it's crap...


**Harry and a Sick Anniversary**

_Warning: Better only read if you feel as sick as I was when I wrote this - I warned you!_

Tick tock tick tock... midnight. It was their sixth anniversary. Harry let out a deep sigh. He was already missing Evelyn. All Hogwarts teachers had gone on a week's holiday together – except for Minerva because she was the Headmistress and Harry because he wanted to give everyone a break from his four energetic kids, the five-year-old triplets Rowena, Salazar, and Godric, and two-year-old Helga. '_In five days they'll be back… five long days…_' Harry sighed and forced himself to look back at the monitor of his computer.

Harry was the professor for magical Computer Sciences at Hogwarts, a position that Minerva had created for him. He was also solely responsible for all computers and Internet pages throughout the magical world. At the moment, he was making a new homepage for one of the departments of the Ministry of Magic. '_I wonder what is wrong with the monitor; everything seems so blurry tonight,' _he wondered as he tried to concentrate on the task ahead_. 'Maybe I should change to another PC,_' he thought, making a few clicks here and there. '_Oh no!_' he suddenly groaned. '_No! I didn't want to delete it! Please no… What did I do? Did my brain go on vacation with everyone else?_' he thought horrified.

Frustrated, he leaned back in his chair, all of a sudden noticing that he felt sore all over and too hot and cold at the same time. '_Oh no!_' he groaned once more. '_This is definitely the wrong time to come down with a cold. Maybe I should just go to bed and hope that it'll be better tomorrow,_' he decided and quickly shut down the PC and left his office.

ハリーと病気な結婚記念日

It seemed as if he had just fallen asleep when a small figure climbed into his bed mumbling, "Daddy, I don't feel so good."

Harry lazily extended an arm to the child, cradling it close. "What's wrong, Salazar?" he enquired, when he calmly put a hand to the child's forehead that seemed to be cool to the touch by his own, warm hands.

"I'm not Sal, I'm Godric, and my throat's sore and I'm so cold," the child replied, making Harry get up and retrieve a children's Pepper-up potion and a pain relieving potion from Severus' private lab. He quickly helped the child to swallow both potions, noticing that his son's breathing evened quickly although it still seemed laboured.

'_All right, let's get back to sleep,_' he thought. '_Or maybe should I take a Pepper-up potion too so I won't feel so feverish then?_' He quickly retrieved another phial for himself, quickly gulped it down.

Only shortly time later it seemed to him, he awaked by his little daughter Helga's crying. Harry scrambled out of his bed, swaying a bit for an instant, and made his way into the girls' room. Rowena was peacefully asleep while Helga was standing in her cot, tugging a red ear, huge tears running down her cheeks. "Does your ear hurt, little one?" he asked softly and was rewarded by a sobbed "Ye."

Harry scooped the child into his arms, fed her the same two potions that he had given his son earlier and put the child next to Godric in his and Evelyn's bed, and carefully lied down between his two sick children. '_Oh, I hope the other two won't get sick as well,_' he thought, already seeing himself travel to St. Mungo's in the morning with four kids since Poppy Pomfrey had left the castle together with the others on vacation.

Harry woke up to Helga's crying in the morning and felt absolutely dreadful. But as the two children in his bed obviously weren't any better so he had no choice but to take them to St. Mungo's to have them looked over. He quickly dressed Helga and helped the triplets to dress themselves before he asked Dobby to bring breakfast for the children.

"Yes, Master Harry, Dobby will brings breakfast immediately. Master Harry wants no breakfast now?"

"No thank you Dobby," Harry declined and proceeded to try feeding Helga a few spoonfuls, and prevent her from tugging at her ear, at the same time.

"Are you all right, Daddy?" Rowena, who was very observant, asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine sweetie," he replied automatically before he explained, "Helga and Godric seem to be sick, and since Aunt Poppy is not here we will have to take the Floo over to St. Mungo's."

Salazar groaned. "I don't want to go to St. Mangos. Can Rowena and I stay with Granny Minerva?"

"That's a good idea," Harry relented and took a few steps over to the fireplace. "Minerva!" he shouted, noticing that his voice was beginning to fail.

"Good morning, Harry," Minerva answered promptly and immediately agreed to watch over the two children for a while. "Of course, sweetheart, it's no fun going to the hospital at all, but with four kids… No, let them Floo here and I will look after them."

Very relieved Harry turned to Rowena and Salazar. "Please gather a few books and toys to occupy yourselves so that you won't bother Granny Minerva too much and then you can take the Floo over to her office." '_I truly hope that they'll behave themselves for once,_' he thought desperately. '_With Salazar you never know, but_ _I'm really not in a mood to listen to any complaints today._'

ハリーと病気な結婚記念日

Twenty minutes later, Harry and his two sick children stepped into the fireplace together. They had to wait in the queue for a long time at the entrance section of the hospital, which at least to Harry seemed to be endless. Finally someone was available to check on the two children and 

diagnosed that Helga had an ear infection and Godric bronchitis. He was told what kind of potions he needed to give them and instantly knew that they had at least one or two phials of each at home that Severus had brewed for him in case something happened. '_That's good; I'll have enough time to brew each of the potions, and I can easily manage to brew all of them with no mistakes,_' he contemplated.

Back home Harry gave their children the appropriate potions, magically exchanged their clothes into soft pyjamas, and put them back into his bed. Harry tucked them in carefully and had to summon all his willpower to resist the strong urge to lie down as well. Instead, he quickly gulped down a fever reducer, slightly relaxing when he felt his body cool down a little, and went over to the fireplace to relieve Minerva of his other children.

"Please be quiet and occupy yourselves without disturbing Godric and Helga," he instructed the two energetic five-year-olds sternly. "I have to go to Granddad Severus' potions lab and brew two potions for them."

"No problem, Daddy, we'll be good," Salazar promised.

"You know, Daddy, we're already big," Rowena added, smiling.

"I'm glad to hear that," Harry smiled back. "Can you please alert me if you notice something's wrong with the others and I don't hear them?"

"Of course, Daddy, we'll keep an eye on them," Rowena promised proudly.

Harry retreated to the potions lab and started the first potion. An hour later, it was nearly half finished when Salazar rushed into the room. "Daddy, you have to come quick; Godric got sick all over your bed."

Groaning inwardly, Harry quickly put a Stasis Charm on the cauldron and rushed over into his bedroom. "Thank God for magic," he muttered to himself while he waved his wand over the bed, cleaning everything up in a blink of the eye. Sitting down on the edge of his bed, again fighting against the urge to lie down as well, he carefully caressed his son's flushed cheeks. "Are you feeling better now, sweetheart?"

"Yes, Daddy, sorry," Godric mumbled back lazily, his eyes already drooping.

"No problem, son," Harry replied before he went back to his potion. '_I have to finish the potion quick; who knows what will happen next,_' he thought frantically while he slowly made his way back to the lab. "Thank you, sweethearts, for alerting me," he told his children on the way.

"Wait, Daddy," Rowena told him and stepped in front of him, taking both of his hands in her own small, cool hands. "Daddy, you have a fever. Do you really have to brew those potions now? Can't we get them from somewhere else?"

"No, sweetie, but it's all right, I'll be finished soon," he reassured his daughter and retreated to the lab, trying to concentrate on the nearly finished potion.

A seemingly endless time later, he was engrossed in the last potion when he noticed his vision failing for short spaces of time. '_Anyway, I have to finish that potion,_' he thought and put in the next ingredient into the left of the two cauldrons he was seeing in front of him, not noticing that the mashed birch bark had landed next to his cauldron on the table instead.

Harry nearly let the hand go from the table, which he was holding on in order to keep himself upright, when a sudden, "Wait, don't put in anything else!" could be heard from behind his back.

Before he knew what happened, Minerva was at his side, telling him, "Whatever it was that you were trying to put into the cauldron, it landed on the table."

Harry blinked a few times to clear his vision and groaned while he hurriedly put a Stasis Charm onto the simmering potion. Then he threw the Headmistress an astonished glance. "Minerva," he stated the obvious.

"Your daughter called me, saying that you were brewing potions in spite of being ill yourself, so I thought it would be better if I looked after you and watched you for the time being."

"Thank you, Minerva. That could have been dangerous," Harry admitted in a small voice, startled when he felt an icy cold hand on his forehead.

"Harry," Minerva gasped. "You are in no condition to brew; you are going straight to bed."

Harry desperately shook his head. "No, Minerva; Helga needs this potion in a few hours; I have to do it now."

"Then give me the recipe and I'll do it for you, Harry," Minerva insisted.

Harry gave her a suspicious look meaning '_You think you're able to brew a potion flawlessly?_' but felt too ill to discuss the matter further. He pulled a thick book off the shelf, skimming through it quickly and laid it open in front of his colleague. "Here, except for the birch bark that is on the table all ingredients are already prepared. At the moment you're here at that stage." He pointed to the middle of the recipe.

"All right, Harry, go to bed. I'll look after you as soon as the potion is finished," Minerva said firmly.

Sometime later, Harry was awakened by a cold hand on his arm. "Dad, you have to come quick. Granny Minerva managed to blow up your cauldron and Granddad Severus' lab is a total mess," he heard Salazar's voice.

Harry scrambled out of bed, paused for a moment until the dizziness passed and hurried to the lab, groaning at the sight in front of him. The whole room was covered in a pink coloured potion. '_Oh my, what a mess, but at least that potion isn't sticky and with magic the lab will be as good as new in a few minutes. I don't have the energy to clean it right now, especially seeing that we have to brew the potion again,_' he thought, groaning inwardly.

"Harry, I'm sorry, but it will be all right, please get back to bed," Minerva told him firmly.

Harry shook his head slightly, leaning onto the wall, not aware of the Transfiguration that Minerva displayed in front of his eyes until he suddenly felt himself being pushed down onto a chair, glad that he could still lean his head against the wall. He nearly chocked when she put an ice cold piece of glass into his mouth. "Now, I'm sorry, I don't know how to do it with a spell, but wait a moment and let me take your temperature, sweetie," the older teacher told him sternly.

"Goko I ga…" Harry tried to contradict but immediately quieted at Minerva's glare. Feeling absolutely miserable, he closed his eyes while Minerva cleaned the room with a few waves of her wand. After what seemed to be an infinite amount of time, she finally removed the thermometer and let out a loud gasp.

"Harry, your fever is dangerously high. I'm going to put you back to bed right this instant, and don't worry about the potion or anything else; I will look after your children in the meantime." She helped him back to his bed, motioning him to take another fever reducer on the way.

夢なのか本当なのか

A few hours later, Harry was captured in fever induced dreams, which during the day slowly turned from horrifying to enjoyable. He could hear voices from far away; not only Minerva's but also Aunt Poppy's and Evelyn's, and he felt himself being given potions, making him feel much better and cooler. He woke with a jolt when he heard Godric coughing next to him, immediately realizing that his nice dreams only had been fever induced dreams seeing that he still felt dreadfully hot, sore, and congested. '_Oh, I had such nice dreams, I wished Evelyn was here,_' he thought wearily.

However, he soon noticed that he could still hear Evelyn's soft voice and felt himself being gently pushed down to his mattress again. "It's all right, sweetheart, go back to sleep, I'm here now," his wife spoke to him quietly.

Harry forced himself to open his sore eyes just a little and saw Evelyn sitting on the edge of his bed. '_Is she really there?_' he thought desperately. '_Or is it a dream again?_' "Are you really there?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Yes, sweetie, I'm really here," Evelyn reassured him and put a cool hand on his forehead, making Harry shiver but unconsciously he leaned into the familiar and comforting touch. "Minerva called Poppy and me when she realized how sick you were. You have the wizards flu as well as an ear infection and are in no condition to look after four kids," she told him while she bathed his hot face with a cold cloth.

When Harry woke up later, he noticed that Evelyn was lying in his arms, and Godric and Helga were no longer in their bed anymore. He gratefully looked at his wife, who was smiling at him and obviously speaking to him but Harry couldn't hear anything. His ears felt as if there were Snitches hidden in each of them, and he still felt absolutely dreadful. "I can't hear you," he whispered, trying to ignore the pain in his throat when he spoke.

Evelyn got up and quickly left the room, only to return a minute later with Poppy in tow. Poppy quickly waved her wand over Harry a few times, and he gratefully noticed that the two Snitches had vanished from his ears. He also felt a refreshing Cooling Charm applied his hot skin, making him visibly relax. "Thank you, Aunt Poppy," he mouthed to the Healer and added, "I'm so sorry that you had to interrupt your vacation because of me."

"That's all right, sweetie; it's a good thing Minerva called me. You are very welcome. If you're really sorry then stay in bed and listen to me for once," Poppy added sternly, noticing that Harry had slightly flinched back under her piercingly strict glance.

"Can you hear me now, sweetie?" Evelyn asked quietly.

"Yes, sorry, my dear," Harry whispered back. "What did you say before?"

"I said '_Happy Anniversary!_' Harry," his wife replied softly and leaned over to kiss him.

**The End**

_This one-shot plays during the last chapter of my story "Harry and the Mystery of Age"._

_Thanks to Mushcorn for her brilliant beta-ing!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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